Attitudes about the morality of alcohol and marijuana items were measured for the first time in Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey, conducted May 1-10. The survey asked Americans to indicate whether they believe each of 22 different behaviors and practices are morally acceptable or morally wrong.

Alcohol and marijuana rank near the top of the list of practices Americans consider morally acceptable. Only birth control, at 91%, gets a higher percentage sanctioning it than drinking alcohol does. Smoking marijuana trails birth control, drinking alcohol and divorce (76%), but is on par with widely accepted acts including gambling, sex between an unmarried man and woman, gay or lesbian relations, stem cell research, and having a baby outside of marriage.

Americans are least likely to regard married men and women having an affair, cloning humans, polygamy and suicide as morally OK. Their opinions are most closely divided on morality of abortion -- 43% believe it is morally acceptable and 48% believe it is not.

Next, I'm going to read you a list of issues. Regardless of whether or not you think it should be legal, for each one, please tell me whether you personally believe that in general it is morally acceptable or morally wrong.

Morally acceptable

Morally wrong

%

%

Birth control

91

6

Drinking alcohol ^

78

19

Divorce

76

20

Sex between an unmarried man and woman

69

28

Gambling

69

28

Gay or lesbian relations

67

30

Medical research using stem cells obtained from human embryos

66

29

Smoking marijuana ^

65

31

Having a baby outside of marriage

65

32

The death penalty

62

33

Buying and wearing clothing made of animal fur

60

37

Medical testing on animals

54

43

Doctor assisted suicide

54

42

Abortion

43

48

Pornography

43

55

Sex between teenagers

42

54

Cloning animals

40

57

Suicide

20

75

Polygamy, when a married person has more than one spouse at the same time

19

78

Cloning humans

16

81

Married men and women having an affair

10

88

May 1-10, 2018; ^ Asked of a half sample

Gallup

Gallup's trends on many of these items date back to 2001. On most, Americans have adopted more permissive views over time. Presumably, this also applies to the new item on smoking marijuana, given the surge over the past two decades in the percentage who say that smoking the drug should be legal. In fact, the 64% who last fall said marijuana should be legal nearly matches the 65% who say smoking it is morally acceptable.

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Religiosity Is Key Determinant in Views of Drinking, Smoking Marijuana

Majorities of key subgroups of Americans regard both drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana as morally acceptable, but highly religious Americans, as measured by the frequency with which they attend church, are less likely to do so. Whereas 88% of those who seldom or never attend religious services find drinking alcohol to be morally acceptable, 60% of those who attend weekly hold that view. And while three-quarters of non-attenders say smoking marijuana is OK, less than half of regular churchgoers, 41%, agree.

Other subgroup differences, including those by gender, age, race and political ideology, appear to reflect differences in church attendance among those groups. For example, nonwhites, women, older Americans and conservatives are more likely to attend church but less likely to say smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol are OK.

Religiosity a Key Factor in Views of Morality of Drinking Alcohol, Smoking Marijuana

Drinking Alcohol

Smoking Marijuana

% Acceptable

% Wrong

% Acceptable

% Wrong

U.S. adults

78

19

65

31

Gender

Men

84

15

70

26

Women

73

23

59

36

Age

18 to 34 years

81

18

77

21

35 to 54 years

78

17

61

36

55+ years

77

21

58

37

Race

White

82

15

68

29

Nonwhite

67

29

59

35

College graduate

Yes

87

9

72

24

No

73

25

61

34

How often attend church

Every week

60

37

41

59

Monthly

71

22

63

31

Seldom/Never

88

11

75

20

Ideology

Liberal

84

11

81

19

Moderate

77

20

75

21

Conservative

75

25

47

49

May 1-10, 2018

Gallup

In nearly every key subgroup, a greater percentage say drinking alcohol is morally acceptable than says the same about smoking marijuana. Young adults, ideological liberals and moderates are notable exceptions, as these three groups are about equally likely to find the two practices morally acceptable. In contrast to liberals and moderates, ideological conservatives are far more likely to view drinking alcohol (75%) than smoking marijuana (47%) as acceptable moral behavior.

Bottom Line

Most Americans do not object on moral grounds to people drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana. Of the two, they are more likely to see drinking alcohol as an acceptable behavior, perhaps because it is legal in all states while smoking marijuana is not. Some states have recently legalized marijuana and many others are considering doing so, perhaps removing some of the stigma associated with the drug. But with roughly two-thirds of the public saying marijuana use is morally acceptable, it seems there will not be sufficient opposition to thwart attempts to make it legal.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted May 1-10, 2018, with a random sample of 1,024 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

The results for the drinking alcohol item are based on a random sample of 542 adults and the results for the smoking marijuana item are based on a random sample of 482 adults. For results based on these samples, the margin of sampling error is ±5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 70% cellphone respondents and 30% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.